Zhengdan
958 is China’s largest corn variety in the market. However, the patent for it
will expire on January 1, 2017, with a huge impact on the Chinese corn market.
A huge increase of seed production with a long term withdraw from the market
are likely the consequences, according to CCM’s analysts.
Source:
Baidu
The
variety right for Zhengdan 958, a very resistant corn variety from northeast
China, has been given by the Office for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants on January 1, 2002. The term of protection of variety rights expires
after 15 years, according to the Regulations for the Protection of New
Varieties of Plants, thus on January 1, 2017, the variety right for Zhengdan
958 will expire, which changes the corn market in China massively.
The
duration of protection rights in China is highly discussed. On the one hand,
most of the varieties have barely a lifetime of 15 years, which make the
protection duration seem quite long. On the other hand, if a well-established
variety as Zhengdan 958 loses the protection at the peak of its cycle, it is
very unfortunate for the developers and may discourage further research for
long term achieving varieties.
This
special corn variety shows multi-resistance against several conditions like
high weather conditions, pests, and diseases. These characteristics grant it a
key promotion place by the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of
China for many years and even leads to the most planted corn variety in China
with an area occupancy of about 40 million ha at the moment, according to CCM.
The
five dealerships of Zhengdan 958 belong currently to Henan Qiule Seed Industry,
Henan Jinwawa Seed industry, Henan Goldoctor Seeds, Wanxiang Doneed, and the
China National Seed Group. The named companies are already strengthening their
effort in R&D to imbalance the expected losses of Zhengdan 958 in 2017.
Their focus has changed to other corn varieties like Dika 517, Zhengdan 1002,
Jingke 968, and Dedan 5.
Impacts in the market
2017
Due
to the expiring right of Zhengdan 958, CCM believes, that the seed production
of this popular corn variety will sky rock in the beginning of 2017. It is
rather seldom, that a mature and largely product like Zhengdan 958 is losing
the protection at the peak of its product life cycle. Many companies,
especially the companies with a weak own R&D department, will take this
opportunity and try to get their own market share of Zhengdan 958. According to
CCM, it is very typical, that once a successful product is losing the
protection, many companies will flood the market with imitations.
However,
this trend will not be stable and won’t last for long. It is likely, that
Zhengdan 958 may vanish from the market in the long run, due to several
reasons. The massive production of seeds will lead to a huge competitiveness
and thus a price decrease of this already low priced corn variety, which makes
it less profitable for companies.
Furthermore,
there have always been copies and imitations of Zhengdan 985 in the market,
which were sold secretly. The companies involved in this illegal trade can
continue in a legal way in 2017, which probably lead to a stable increase
without notable fluctuations.
All
in all, the future of Zhengdan 958 may be not a promising one, according to the
China National Seed Association. Without any protection right, the brand is
free to the market, which may lead to a decreasing reputation and low-quality
copies, that will finally vanish this once popular corn variety out of the
market.
About
CCM:
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Tag: Corn